Eastern Railroad Discussion > Emergency in the Outfield!

I was looking for 2 things in suburban Pittsburgh this evening. First was a motel for the night and second was a suitable subject to spend the final dregs of daylight on. And when I found that suitable subject I ended up looking for, but not finding a third item: My youth! What I found instead is that it's becoming harder and harder to remember the days of my childhood when the MOST important thing in the whole wide world was playing 3rd base for my little league team. In truth, it was not the most important thing, it was the ONLY thing!!!

When I found these little tykes playing our great American game I was swept back over a half century to the summer of 1966, my first in organized baseball. Oh yeah! Take a closer look at what sneaked by out there over the right field fence...

1. A consist of NS 4008 & NS 9-1-1 + an unknown 3rd unit rolls east through a little league outfield at Sewickley in NW Pittsburgh, PA on May 13, 2019.

Play Ball!
Lance Garrels
santafe199
(ex-little league 3rd baseman)

Posted from suburban Pittsburgh, PA



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/13/19 23:17 by santafe199.

---

What a great catch!

Maybe some are rail fans running to get their cameras.

Great picture Lance. Can't beat a combination of trains and baseball.

Kim Heusel

jmbreitigan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe some are rail fans running to get their
> cameras.

If I was watching a game that close to the tracks, my my 300 zoom would be it my hands...

Steve H...

When I was a kid playing ball the field was right next to PRR NEC. Boy would the coach get on me to keep my mind and eyes in the game!

Great picture. IOTD nomination.

Posted from Android

KimHeusel Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great picture Lance. Can't beat a combination of
> trains and baseball.
>
> Kim Heusel

Like Victory Field?

MSE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What a great catch!

Looks like it could have been a better "hit!"

Lance..........my short-lived baseball career grew even shorter when, in about 1949, I turned from center field to watch the Santa Fe Chicagoan leave town.  A fly ball hit the ground about 4 feet from me, causing untold jeers from my bench.  
Joe

jdw3460 Wrote: > ... fly ball hit the ground about 4 feet from me ...

...and the REAL tragedy is you probably forgot to write down the engine number...

;^)

Prologue: I'm back home now in the Land of OZ and just got my computer back home from Computer Hospital (actual name of the repair shop, no foolin' :^). I have a couple of reflections on this image. Without yet doing my standard trans-loading ~ weeding/deleting ~ ID-ing/locating & final filing of the 10 days of images I came home with, I'm betting the series that produced this image will be my favorite. And an explanation is in order. This scene is at the very conclusion of the game. All those little guys are running to a team gathering spot in left field. Except for one little tyke who is backtracking to pick up his dropped hat. 

Right after this shot I had a young mother of one of those boys ask me what I was doing, perhaps a bit suspicious. I explained how, in one shot I was capturing 2 of the great passions in my life: baseball & railroading. When she realized a major main line RR was intimately adjacent to their baseball field I could see in her face a flash of understanding. With a warm smile she shook my hand and said "...that's really cool." It was at that exact moment I was fully transported back to the summer of 1966, and all those summers of my youth playing little league ball. The collective smiles on the faces of ALL parents =win or lose= was a reward for participating in a game we all love...

Lance/199
(ex-little league 3rd baseman) 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/19 12:37 by santafe199.